Texas Rangers Blog

Darren O’Day believes he will be ready for start of Rangers season despite lack of innings

SURPRISE, Ariz. - Darren O’Day said the plan all along has been for him to pitch less early in camp and more as the spring schedule progressed. But this is kind of ridiculous.
O’Day has been limited to four innings this spring (three in “A” games) because of a bone bruise at the back of his elbow, likely from a hyperextension. He has not pitched off a mound in nine days and isn’t expected to appear in a game this week.

The plan for O’Day was to get 10 innings in during the spring, but it appears unlikely he will reach that goal. If he pitches four times next week (every other day, with a back-to-back stretch to finish off the spring) and one of those is a two-inning outing, he’ll get to nine innings.

“I think I’ll be ready,” O’Day said Wednesday morning. “But when I looked at the schedule and saw how close we are to opening day, it does create a little more sense of urgency. I already have my arm strength and my command comes back pretty quickly, so I’m not concerned.”

With the Rangers planning to move C.J. Wilson to the rotation, O’Day is essential to how the Rangers plan out the late innings. He appeared in 68 games last year (64 for the Rangers). Only Wilson (74) appeared in more games.